Thursday, January 09, 2014

Looking for change in the church in 2014 (Opinion)

Pope Francis brought an undeniably new attitude to the church in
2013.

His pastoral approach and focus on the poor is genuine and
significant.

As we enter 2014, however, the questions become: How much
substantive change can we expect? What will it look like?

There are a few areas where Pope Francis has already made clear
change will occur: There is an expectation of greater transparency and a
reform of the operation of the Vatican bank.

Reform of the Curia also seems high on the agenda, but we do not yet
know what actual changes may take place.

Certainly one would expect
changes in personnel, yet perhaps the more important change may be in
the consolidation of agencies and a reduction in the power of those that
remain.

The establishment of Francis' Cabinet-like structure of eight
cardinals appears to be a step in that direction.

The sex abuse crisis continues to bedevil the church, and many of the
victims and their families seem unconvinced and unsatisfied by the
moves the pope has made thus far. There will be many watching in the new
year to see what develops in this area.

The changes that have been made on the Vatican's Congregation of Bishops, which oversees the appointments of bishops throughout the world, are hopefully a sign of real and meaningful movement.

Certainly, we will all be watching the appointments of 2014 to see if
new appointments might appear to foster long-lasting changes in church
governance.

There is a February meeting planned
for the pope's Cabinet. This should be a time when real moves begin to
occur. They have already had two structural meetings, and for a pope
with a limited amount of time, this would seem to be an excellent
opportunity for his substantive agenda to begin to unfold.

The Synod of Bishops planned for October
focusing on family issues offers hope for some real change as well.

The
effort of the Vatican to gather input from the laity throughout the
church augurs well.

Discussion of the possibility of the reception of
Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics suggests one real
possibility of change that is under consideration.

What progressives in the church are waiting for are signs that there
might be areas where additional meaningful change is possible.

Substantive changes on mandatory celibacy, the role of women in the
church, more power for regional bishops' conferences, and a greater role
for the laity in the church are all potential areas for movement.

I believe we will see some modest changes on mandatory celibacy this
year. It might be regional at first. The first step might be requests
from certain bishops' conferences to experiment in this area.

A series of articles on the theology of women is starting up in L'Osservatore Romano
this year that deserve to be watched. Hopefully this effort will prove
to be a serious attempt to address women as equal partners in the growth
and development of the church. The fact that this topic is being
discussed is an important beginning.

What I most want to see in 2014 is real change in the way bishops and
clerics respond to their people. We know where Francis stands in his
attitude toward his flock. We need to see a more pastoral tone coming
not just from Francis, but from the bishops around the world.

For me, that needs to start with the American bishops. I want to see
ended the actions being taken against the hard-working nuns putting the
spirit of Francis into practice.

The bishops also need to focus on the
importance of this country's uninsured receiving adequate health
insurance instead of continuing to fight with the administration over a
distorted notion of what the Constitution actually means by "religious
liberty."

There is a great danger that 2014 could turn into a year of
disappointment.

After all, Francis is the head of the Holy Roman
Catholic Church. What can we really expect?

It is unquestionably
possible to overreach in our expectations. Many of us will not be
satisfied until everything is operating the way we would like it to, but
we cannot discount 2,000 years of history and tradition.

There are undoubtedly forces of resistance arrayed against Pope
Francis.

We need to pray for Pope Francis and his success.

We should
offer encouragement for steps taken in the right direction, even if they
don't go as far as we may like.

Francis has already shown us the way in what is possible.

We can and
should expect a church that is more caring, more understanding, more
pastoral, and more Christian. We should be looking for that in our
individual parishes and dioceses.

We should also look for meaningful
changes that can be expected to flow from these changes in attitudes.